Avoid The "Rollover" Ground Ball

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Today's newsletter is dedicated to hitting coaches. I will present a thought-provoking question for them that will get the wheels spinning and challenge the reader to possibly see biomechanics in a slightly different way.

My question is: What exactly is a "rollover" and how does it occur? Many hitting coaches have been coaching against this term, which has been prevalent in the baseball and hitting community for quite some time.

We, hitting coaches, are aware that a "rollover" ground ball is the outcome of a poor swing or mistimed hit. It is something we work to avoid as hitters, while pitchers consider it a victory. Each hitting coach may have their own approach to coaching against the rollover ground ball.

The question remains: How does a rollover occur? Some hitting coaches may attribute it to the casting of hands which gets the barrel on the outside of the baseball; and this belief is often countered by the saying "stay inside of the ball, keep your hands inside of the baseball."

Is this coaching point incorrect? There is no right or wrong answer as long as it works for the individual player, but personally, I do not emphasize this coaching point with my hitters. Why? Because, in my opinion, the answer lies in understanding the essence of a rollover. To me, it is rather straightforward.

A rollover ground ball most likely occurs when the "barrel" of bat beats the body to the baseball. This can also be said that the whipping of the barrel/peak bat speed happened before the body finished rotating or firing.

Using the two definitions of what happens when hitters rollover, the question then turns to: Should we slow our bat down or figure out how to speed our body up?

In a current game where pitchers are doing all they can to throw harder, I think the correct answer is obvious. Slowing the bat down will not work in today’s game. We must figure out how to speed the body up. The key here will be figuring out how to speed our body up without actually increasing the effort level of the body. The body must remain as the foundation of the swing, not the driver. This may sound crazy to some, but using the body as the driver will only cause the hitter to increase his or her effort level within the body. I believe coaching hitters to use their body is going to give them inefficiencies and throw off the sequencing of events. Increasing effort within a body part or body fire often turns into a poor result.

This is why I teach “THE REACTIVE SWING” a swing that gets the body to fire fire faster and stop faster, all while remaining a low effort level. The body is a “reactive engine” and its “fire” is initiated by something else. This may make some hitting coaches scratch their head because it is apparent that elite hitter’s slow motion video, the body seems to be fired first in which we create “bat lag” and “adjustability”. The sequence of these events: body fire, barrel fire, body brakes, and barrel extension can be tricking to the eye.

So, if a rollover ground ball is a hitter’s barrel beating the body, how do we speed the body up and keep it as the “reactive engine”. This answer is simple: 1. Hitter’s must keep the same intent they had on the rollover swing. They must continue allow the barrel of the bat to be the “initial driver” of the swing. This is truly what it means to “use your hands”.

2. The hitter must be “continuously loading” into the correct position and posture as the ball is approaching.

If we can fire the barrel and let it be the “initial driver”, all we have to do is get our body in the correct position and it will become the “reactive driver” of the swing. Our body will fire off of the firing of the barrel and beat our barrel to the ball keeping us attacking the inner half of the baseball.

What was missing on the “rollover” swing was not the “keep your hands inside the ball” teach.

1. Body did not load properly.

2. Body was not in the correct position as the hitter fired the barrel (most likely on the hitter’s front side)

3. Barrel was fired and the body became inactive and not reactive

4. Barrel beat the body to the ball appearings as if the hitter casted their hands and “got around the ball”

One principal to the “Reactive Swing” is: NOTHING IS FASTER THAN THE BODY.

Hitter’s must figure out how to fire the body last; the body is the fastest so it will still win the race to the ball. The body, our hands, and a barrel will become slow if try to fire the body first. Let it be reactive and learn what “launch quickenes” is. We must first learn what is the correct position we must “launch” (fire the barrel) from!

Stay tuned to more newsletters to continue this topic and learn more about how to turn swings into the REACTIVE SWING!!

Thank you for your time!